Pak Yesterday & Pak Today
Pak Yesterday: We created terror; Pak Today: Hmmm we didn't mean that ....
Playing down President Asif Ali's remarks that Pakistan ‘created and nurtured’ militants to achieve short-term objectives, the government said the statement should be seen in the context of the situation that prevailed after Soviet forces pulled out of Afghanistan.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the President was referring to the period when the ‘West left Pakistan high and dry after the withdrawal of Soviet troops’ from Afghanistan.
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, Pakistan has been dealing with the ‘spill-over effects of the Afghan war,’ Basit said in reply to a question about Zardari's comments.
He said there is a need to ‘transcend limited objectives’ and to adopt a comprehensive and holistic approach to tackle issues and problems in the region.
During a meeting with former senior civil servants on Tuesday, Zardari had said militants and extremists were ‘deliberately created and nurtured’ in Pakistan as a policy to achieve ‘some short-term tactical objectives’.
"The terrorists of today were the heroes of yesteryears until 9/11 occurred and they began to haunt us as well," he had said.
Earlier this week, Zardari said in an interview that military operations were required against militants who were considered as ‘strategic assets’ in the past.
ZARDARI: PAK CREATED MILITANCY
Pakistan now seems to be feeling the heat of the fire it had lighted years ago, with President Asif Ali Zardari admitting that the menace of extremism and militancy were created by Islamabad itself to attain some tactical goals.
Addressing a gathering of retired federal secretaries and senior bureaucrats here, Zardari asked the officials to admit the reality.
“Let us be truthful to ourselves and make a candid admission of the realities. Militancy and extremism emerged on the national scene and challenged the state not because the civil bureaucracy was weakened and demoralised, but because they were deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives,” The Daily Times quoted Zardari, as saying.
Referring to the political turmoil in the country, Zardari said Pakistan cannot afford political brick batting at present, as the state is on the verge of collapse due to the impending threat from the Taliban and other terror organizations.
“We intend to keep all the political forces together in a harmonious relationship as we cannot afford political games and confrontational politics. We are at the brink and we must realize that political games for personal gain can no longer be played,” he said.
Zardari also stressed on the need of dispersing power to different hands for effective governance.
“Too much power, when concentrated in one hand lasts only for a short time. For power to be effectively used for long-lasting public good it must be diffused and dispersed as widely as possible,” he added
Playing down President Asif Ali's remarks that Pakistan ‘created and nurtured’ militants to achieve short-term objectives, the government said the statement should be seen in the context of the situation that prevailed after Soviet forces pulled out of Afghanistan.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the President was referring to the period when the ‘West left Pakistan high and dry after the withdrawal of Soviet troops’ from Afghanistan.
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, Pakistan has been dealing with the ‘spill-over effects of the Afghan war,’ Basit said in reply to a question about Zardari's comments.
He said there is a need to ‘transcend limited objectives’ and to adopt a comprehensive and holistic approach to tackle issues and problems in the region.
During a meeting with former senior civil servants on Tuesday, Zardari had said militants and extremists were ‘deliberately created and nurtured’ in Pakistan as a policy to achieve ‘some short-term tactical objectives’.
"The terrorists of today were the heroes of yesteryears until 9/11 occurred and they began to haunt us as well," he had said.
Earlier this week, Zardari said in an interview that military operations were required against militants who were considered as ‘strategic assets’ in the past.
ZARDARI: PAK CREATED MILITANCY
Pakistan now seems to be feeling the heat of the fire it had lighted years ago, with President Asif Ali Zardari admitting that the menace of extremism and militancy were created by Islamabad itself to attain some tactical goals.
Addressing a gathering of retired federal secretaries and senior bureaucrats here, Zardari asked the officials to admit the reality.
“Let us be truthful to ourselves and make a candid admission of the realities. Militancy and extremism emerged on the national scene and challenged the state not because the civil bureaucracy was weakened and demoralised, but because they were deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives,” The Daily Times quoted Zardari, as saying.
Referring to the political turmoil in the country, Zardari said Pakistan cannot afford political brick batting at present, as the state is on the verge of collapse due to the impending threat from the Taliban and other terror organizations.
“We intend to keep all the political forces together in a harmonious relationship as we cannot afford political games and confrontational politics. We are at the brink and we must realize that political games for personal gain can no longer be played,” he said.
Zardari also stressed on the need of dispersing power to different hands for effective governance.
“Too much power, when concentrated in one hand lasts only for a short time. For power to be effectively used for long-lasting public good it must be diffused and dispersed as widely as possible,” he added
